As the workforce becomes increasing distributed and mobile, many meetings are occurring with some participants calling (also referred to herein as “dialing in”) into a conference call. For each participant dialed into the conference call, a leg (also referred to herein as “call leg” or “link”) is established in the conference call.
Typically, potential attendees of the telephone conference call are sent invites via an office email/calendaring application (e.g. Microsoft Outlook) containing information relating to the meeting such as time, date, and place. It may also contain include a conference call dial-in telephone number (also referred to herein as “dial-in number” or “dial-in location”) and a conference identification number. The request may also include a user identification number specific to the meeting request recipient that the attendee may enter once the call is connected.
In some cases, a majority of attendees meet in a physical location such as a conference room while a few remote attendees dial into a conference call. Typically, a speakerphone system is provided at the conference room to be communally utilized. To participate in the telephone conference call, attendees at the conference room must locate the dial-in number, conference identification number, and possibly user identification number at the time of the meeting. This requires an attendee to manually open the invite on his personal computer or mobile phone and enter the dial-in number at the speakerphone. Once the call is connected, the attendee must then enter the conference identification number and user identification number when prompted.
This process is cumbersome and has several limitations. The attendee must manually look up, remember, and key in the dial-in number. Often this process includes downtime while the attendee's computer is booting up or if the attendee needs to manually write down the number on paper to assist him in making the call. Also, the attendee may not be familiar with the conference room's speakerphone system. Once connected, the attendee must manually enter the conference identification number (also referred to herein as the “meeting identification number” or “conference call identification number”) and user identification number if applicable. If the attendee makes a mistake in keying in any of these numerical strings, an error occurs and the attendee must begin again. As a result, there is a need for improved methods and system for connecting telephone conference call attendees.